Katarina Witt becomes the first female singles skater since Sonja Henie to both retain her Olympic title and win an Olympic title more than once. Both Witt and Debi Thomas chose Carmen as their free program for the 1987/88 season. Hence, their fight for the 1988 Olympic title became known as the 'Battle of the Carmens'. Kira Ivanova won the compulsories, with Thomas second and Witt third. Manley placed fourth. Witt then won the short program, with Thomas second. However, Thomas took a slender lead over Witt going in to free skate (0.2 in terms of factored placements). In her Carmen Free Skate, Witt downgraded her planned triple loop to a double, and therefore only landed 4 triples. However, Thomas landed just 2 triples. Accordingly, Witt won the title, although Liz Manley won the Free Skate.

Witt later said of her win: "I skate my freestyle very early in our group. Before Elizabeth and Debi. Actually, it means more to me to skate after everyone else, when the pressure is the highest. This time I have to show them how it's done. Mrs. Müller, at the side of the rink, put her hand on mine, looked me in the eye, and gave me a mental shove just before I was called out. The bells at the beginning of my music transform me into Carmen immediately. Energetically, I jump my first combination triple toe-loop / double toe-loop, on to the triple Salchow, then the double axel and another triple toe-loop. And almost without breathing. I make up for that. I spend the hard-won 30 seconds flirting with the judges, and not only with the 7 men among them, and "posing" choreographically for the audience. That's unimaginable today! Too bad, really! Peggy Fleming and Dick Button, commentating for ABC, utilize this little "break". Peggy wants to give me a woman-to-woman compliment, and said, "This is the moment in which Katarina attempts to draw in the audience's attention. And her theatrical..." But she doesn't get any further, as Dick finished her sentence in a somewhat brash manner, "there's nothing theatrical about that, it's just posing." If only they knew, that during the "flirting break", my heart almost fell into my costume, because suddenly, I had no more strength in my legs. During the habanera, "Love is a wild bird, which no one can tame, and it is useless to call him, if he doesn't want to come" I feel weak and tired and would prefer to stop. Hello! In front of a million spectators, I can hardly fall asleep on the ice! I realize in the run-up to the triple Rittberger, that I don't have the necessary chutzpah for that, and do a double instead. The following triple Salchow combination went so flawlessly well, I would have loved to have audibly screamed for joy. But for now I am Carmen, and can't very well let out a squeal of delight, while the jealous José is on the verge of giving me a razor sharp death blow. The last double axel is also a success, and I feel that I have given my all for Carmen. Four triple jumps securely demonstrated, every facet played out emotionally and choreographically, and yet I know--"lifeless" at the end, and draped across the ice-"Oh man, nothing has been won yet, and everything is still wide open for Debi". With a heavy heart, relieved for the most part, but still a bit anxious, I get up, and four seconds later, I'm Katarina again....I watch Debi unprovokingly from the athlete's official corner at rink-side. Whenever she is called out, she slaps both hands with her trainer. This time she misses, and I know right away, it's not going to go well for her. She isn't aggressive enough. The first combination goes badly, and she loses her fighting spirit. Afterwards, she has more bad landings. I don't have to wait for the score to know that I have won the "Battle of the Carmens". Back in the dressing room, as I am putting my skates on for the award ceremony, I hear a thundering applause from the stands and my knees start to tremble. Does this mean Elizabeth is in the lead? While two are fighting is she the third with the last laugh? In the media and in our minds, the focus had up to now been on Debi and me, so we never turned to see what was coming up behind us. However, as luck would have it, the audience was extremely excited because on the scoreboard, they could see that Elizabeth had won the silver medal for Canada. For them it was like she had won the gold!"

The men's competition was billed as 'the Battle of the Brian's' as Brian Orser was the reigning world champion, and Brian Boitano was his closest rival (and 1986 world champion). Going into the Olympics, the two Brian's had competed against each other 10 times, with Orser holding a 7-3 lead. Fadeev led after the compulsories, with Boitano 2nd and Orser 3rd. However, Orser won the short program, beating Boitano into 2nd. Nevertheless, Boitano held a narrow lead over Orser overall going into the long program, but as it was so slender, whoever finished ahead between them in the FS would win the Gold. Ultimately, Boitano won the free skate by 5 judges to 4, and the Olympic Gold Medal. Orser (skating to Dmitri Shostakovich's "The Bolt") double footed and then stepped out of the landing on his 3F and doubled out on a 3A (ironic, as he was known as 'Mr Triple Axel' as it was his trademark jump. Boitano's trademark jump was one he had invented - the 'Tano Triple Lutz', a Triple Lutz with one arm raised above the head), and that cost him the title. Boitano (skating to music from Carmine Coppola's 'Napoleon') had skated clean (apart from a very slightly double footed landing on a 3A), landing 8 triples, 2 of them 3A's. It should be noted, however, that of the 9 Judges, 4 of them made Orser the clear winner of the LP, whilst 3 of them made Boitano the clear winner. The other 2 Judges (from Denmark and Switzerland) had them tied. However, the tiebreaker was the technical mark, and both of the Judges had given higher technical merit marks to Boitano. Hence, the reason why Boitano won by 5 Judges to 4. The irony of all this is, that this was the last Olympics at which the technical mark was the tiebreaker. Subsequently, the artistic impression mark was used as the tiebreaker. Had that been the case in these Olympics, then Orser would have won the FS by 6 Judges to 3, and won the Gold medal. Petrenko won the Bronze.

Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov win the Olympic title in the pairs competition. Just a month before, Valova & Vasiliev, their main rivals, had been unable to take part in the European Championships, as Valova had suffered a foot injury which had kept her in hospital for a month. Gordeeva & Grinkov won the SP, the FS, and the title easily. This was despite the fact that G&G had also encountered problems in the lead up to the Olympics. Back in November 1987, Grinkov had dropped Gordeeva on her forehead during practice, after having caught a blade on the ice. This led to her being hospitalized for a short period.

Natalia Bestemianova & Andrei Bukin easily win the Olympic title in the Ice Dance, winning all 3 sections (CD, OSP, and FS). Marina Klimova & Sergei Ponomarenko win the silver, and would go on to win the Olympic title 4 years later in 1992. Wilson & McCall win the Bronze. The medal positions were replicated in the Ice Dance a month later at the 1988 world championships.

As with B&B, Wilson & McCall would retire after those world championships. Sadly, just 3 years later, Robert McCall died from AIDS-related brain cancer at the age of just 33, and he was not the only skater from these Olympics who would go on to die prematurely. Shockingly, Kira Ivanova (who finished 7th in the Ladies competition), who retired after these Olympics, was murdered in 2001 in her own apartment (from stabbing). She was just 38 years old. And, Sergei Grinkov collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of just 28 in 1995 whilst practicing for a forthcoming Stars on Ice tour. More recently, Chris Bowman, who finished 7th in the Men's competition, passed away at the age of just 40 in 2008 from an accidental drug overdose

Interesting that you mentioned three of the skaters who passed away but didn't mention the death of Sergei Grinkov such a few years after the Olympics.

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I actually incorporated it whilst proof reading everything checking for errors (hence, its in there now). As the proof reading and amendments took me around half an hour, you got your post in first whilst I was making the amendments. Apologies, for the original omission. I had originally intended to include it, but during the original write up, it completely slipped my mind on account of the amount of time it took me to put the piece together. It's not always possible with a task this size, to get it perfect first time.

For me, Brian B won convincingly. His jumping merit was way ahead and he had command over every single jump. Orser was the better skater but not that much better to overcome a second 3axel (in second half), a second 3flip and a 3/3 (in second half), especially under 6.0. I am frankly surprised and puzzled by how close they were. Their programs were surprisingly simplistic both in terms of choreography and interpretation compared to the other top men.

I would have had Brian B a 5.9/5.7 and Brian O a 5.6/5.8.

Major kudos to the Soviet men!!! Despite jumping issues, they actually had better musical interpretation or more complex choreography than the two Brians. Petrenko was wonderful to watch despite the jumping errors, Fadeev was probably the best skater in the field with his edges and movements. Love the 2axel into back sit spin! And for everyone praising Wagner's rendition of Samson & Delilah, check out Kotin's version! I miss 6.0 for allowing that circular steps to happen.

Despite not having the 3axel, Bowman really already had everything else in 1988. Sigh.

For me, the highlights of the men's competition were definitely the Soviet men and Bowman, and perhaps a little Browning and Wylie... Brian who?

I still don't understand how Katarina Witt won it. Good for her. But really

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Overall, Kat deserved it. Debi flopped in the free. Liz won the free, but Kat beat her overall. Midori was wonderful in the free in terms of her jumps, but her compulsories, artistry, and presentation skills were well below those of Kat, Debi, and Liz, so she was never likely to challenge for a medal.

Shame Caryn Kadavy had to withdraw due to illness. Had an outside chance of a medal. Always rated her more highly than Trenary who came fourth.

I was also puzzled by how close Boitano and Orser were in the LP, considering Boitano's 2nd 3axel, 3/3, and second flip and he landed three more triples than Orser. I preferred Orser's 'artistry' per se, but from a 'presentation' standpoint I thought Boitano was fine. But yeah, those Russian men really were the performers to watch. Petrenko was amazing, and I love Kotin's S/D.

We've discussed the Ladies competition many times before. I still don't understand what presentation Manley had that Ito apparently lacked. They were both perky, athletic skaters, and I just never understood Manley. Ito was faster, had better spins, and jumped out of the building, and her choreo wasn't that less impressive than Manley's. Trenary was way ahead of Manley on the second mark IMO. And this might be totally random, but does anyone else think Bob Trenary was a sexy beast? Ruff. He did an interview with Kathie Lee Gifford and you could tell she was crushing on him.

The pairs were really only about G/G. Perfection, and light years ahead of everyone else. I have to give honorable mention to Gillian Wachsman and Todd Waggoner. I loved their intricate program, it was just too bad they made so many errors. Also, how do you prounounce Gillian? I've always pronounced the G like in George and not like Gabriel. I've never heard it pronounced it the other way.

As for dance, well, I just NEVER understood the appeal of B/B. At all. I thought K/P should have won, they were the class of the field. It was nice to see W/M get the bronze, it was like they won the gold medal they were so happy.

Speaking purely subjectively, for me, the highlight of the 1988 Olympics was Midori's free skate, she had the jumps and I thought she had great presentation as well. I loved Brian Boitano's SP with the integration of the classic figure skating moves into the program.

G&G absolutely deserved to win the gold, every move was crisp, clean and technically perfect and they did an excellent job presenting their routine. Personally though, I prefer the choreography and program construction of V&V's routines, and I'm happy that V&V were able to end their career with a final world championship title at the 1988 World Championships. I believe the SelMaks were also coming off an injury as well. Love that team as well-too bad about Oleg's fall in the SP.

K&P's Air (1992 FD) is probably my all time favorite free dances and their professional routines: dracula, romeo & juliet, spartacus, tchaikovsky are also among my favorite skating routines. But as difficult as their hand holds, positions and footwork were, I have to admit, I have a soft spot for B&B's free dance. I just love B&B's speed and their dynamic and dramatic style, not just in the 1988 free dance, but their other routines as well-especially their iconic "Carmen" routine.
It's not a difficult or even a pretty move, but I find this "running" move so memorable. Their c.d. that year to the Kilian is out of this world. W&M's free dance is fabulous and another highlight for me: incredibly entertaining, fun, excellent presentation and great footwork throughout the dance.

RE: Gillian's name, I always assumed it was pronounced similar to "Jillian" as well. Sorta like how Jinger Duggar's name is pronounced "Ginger"-but in reverse But, the announcers, not just at the 1988 Olympics but at the 1988 World Champions as well, pronounce her name with a hard G sound. I much prefer them to W&O. They had excellent throws and so many great transition moves and innovative entrances and exits to their lifts.

I actually incorporated it whilst proof reading everything checking for errors (hence, its in there now). As the proof reading and amendments took me around half an hour, you got your post in first whilst I was making the amendments. Apologies, for the original omission. I had originally intended to include it, but during the original write up, it completely slipped my mind on account of the amount of time it took me to put the piece together. It's not always possible with a task this size, to get it perfect first time.

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I love that you put so much time, thought and effort into these things. But could you at least sprinkle it with a few paragraph breaks to make it easier on the eyes.

Overall, Kat deserved it. Debi flopped in the free. Liz won the free, but Kat beat her overall. Midori was wonderful in the free in terms of her jumps, but her compulsories, artistry, and presentation skills were well below those of Kat, Debi, and Liz, so she was never likely to challenge for a medal.

Shame Caryn Kadavy had to withdraw due to illness. Had an outside chance of a medal. Always rated her more highly than Trenary who came fourth.

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I personally beg to differ about Midori. She might not have skated generically pretty programs but she skated with a ton of charisma and her programs were full of drama and excitement, all of which counts towards artistry. And her jumps were often nicely timed to the music and were often connected with a lot of choreographic moves.

I love Katarina's description of her LP, she's so brutally honest! IMO, Liz should have won the ladies' free (which she did), Midori 2nd, Katarina 3rd, Jill 4th. I'm not even sure Debi deserved as high as 5th in the free. I would have been fine with (overall), Gold: Liz; Silver: Katarina; Bronze: Midori.

Brians: IMO, Boitano absolutely deserved the win. I also felt he had the superior artistry in his Oly programs.

I wasn't really into Pairs and Ice Dance at the time, although I could see that G/G were heads above everyone else.

I also would have loved Liz Manley in first place. And I adored Midori Ito too - though I would have to go back and watch all the programs to know where I think she should have placed. I do remember thinking overall how odd it was how little of an impact technical content seemed to have in the Ladies' competition.

I appreciated them but never got the love for B and B and far preferred K and P.

At the time and under 6.0 and how things were marked - I agree that Boitano deserved the win. But when I go back and watch their programs now - I am surprised by how much I prefer Orser's programs.

G&G absolutely deserved to win the gold, every move was crisp, clean and technically perfect and they did an excellent job presenting their routine. Personally though, I prefer the choreography and program construction of V&V's routines, and I'm happy that V&V were able to end their career with a final world championship title at the 1988 World Championships. I believe the SelMaks were also coming off an injury as well. Love that team as well-too bad about Oleg's fall in the SP.

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I agree with you. Despite the use of "The Final Countdown" mixed with Snowstorm which just reeks of 80s skating music construction, I thought V/V had a much more interesting routine. I was also really annoyed by Katia's expression throughout the LP.

I appreciate G/G's technical mastery and their incomparable unison. However, I never liked any of their amateur routines other than Moonlight Sonata (which they did after going pro for a few years). Performance, interpretation, and musically, I found them to be a bit vacant.

I agree with you. Despite the use of "The Final Countdown" mixed with Snowstorm which just reeks of 80s skating music construction, I thought V/V had a much more interesting routine. I was also really annoyed by Katia's expression throughout the LP.

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ITA, in fact I was about to post the same thing wrt to V/V. In retrospect I find it hard to listen to The Final Countdown, and would prefer to watch that program on mute. So 80s.... I did like the violin slow section. They were quite different as a pair.

I was 15 during Calgary and was dating a girl who looked like a blond Katia Gordeeva. Even I kind of fell in love with her then. Her facial expressions were a bit OTT at times, but then again I've experienced Krylova since then, so anyone else is muted in my mind.

I went back and watched Manley v Ito again. I'm really not seeing the disparity. By any criteria of presentation, Ito sure had it. The stadium was clapping for her even during MITF. It wasn't only about jumps. She had 'presentation'. Sure, no one would confuse her free leg to that of say, Sasha Cohen, but she lit up that crowd in Calgary. She should have been first in the LP, and at worst second behind home favorite Manley. Manley was weaker than I remembered which surprised me. Her cutesy Irma La Douce number just was BLAH. And it looked like she UR'd and 2 footed her 3loop, plus she had not even one jump combination compared to Ito's 3T3T, 2A1/2L3S and Ito had a clean Loop, Flip, a second Sal, and a second Toe. Ito creamed her IMO. Unfortunately JSF had no clout back then.

ITA, in fact I was about to post the same thing wrt to V/V. In retrospect I find it hard to listen to The Final Countdown, and would prefer to watch that program on mute. So 80s.... I did like the violin slow section. They were quite different as a pair.

I was 15 during Calgary and was dating a girl who looked like a blond Katia Gordeeva. Even I kind of fell in love with her then. Her facial expressions were a bit OTT at times, but then again I've experienced Krylova since then, so anyone else is muted in my mind.

I went back and watched Manley v Ito again. I'm really not seeing the disparity. By any criteria of presentation, Ito sure had it. The stadium was clapping for her even during MITF. It wasn't only about jumps. She had 'presentation'. Sure, no one would confuse her free leg to that of say, Sasha Cohen, but she lit up that crowd in Calgary. She should have been first in the LP, and at worst second behind home favorite Manley. Manley was weaker than I remembered which surprised me. Her cutesy Irma La Douce number just was BLAH. And it looked like she UR'd and 2 footed her 3loop, plus she had not even one jump combination compared to Ito's 3T3T, 2A1/2L3S and Ito had a clean Loop, Flip, a second Sal, and a second Toe. Ito creamed her IMO. Unfortunately JSF had no clout back then.

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I also think Ito creamed Manley. Not only did she have way more difficult content in terms of the jumps but her spins were incredibly strong, her edges were incredibly strong, deep, and fast and the choreography was amazing (spread eagle into triple loop, ina bauer into a triple toe-triple toe combination, 2 falling leaf jumps (split jumps taking off of one foot) into a double axel right at the end and then straight into her amazing scratch spin, etc. And like I said, the sheer drama and excitement she was able to create as well as her charm and charisma should count towards artistry (even though so many people were absolutely unwilling to give her credit for it).

My thought exactly.
That is disappointing because I don't think Katarina should have won, but I don't like Liz's program !

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Liz won the LP; Katarina won overall, and IMO that's fair. Kat did well in all 3 parts of the competition. I actually preferred Kat's Carmen to Liz's perky program. I admit that Liz had more difficult technical content.

I love Katarina's description of her LP, she's so brutally honest! IMO, Liz should have won the ladies' free (which she did), Midori 2nd, Katarina 3rd, Jill 4th. I'm not even sure Debi deserved as high as 5th in the free. I would have been fine with (overall), Gold: Liz; Silver: Katarina; Bronze: Midori.

Brians: IMO, Boitano absolutely deserved the win. I also felt he had the superior artistry in his Oly programs.

I am not so sure about Boitano's 'absolutely deserved win'. At that time the tie breaker was technical marks, and that's what Boitano won on. Had the tie breaker been artistic marks (they called them artistic those days, not presentation), Orser would have won. Orser opened the door technically by landing only one triple axel; the two triple axels in the LP was something that he started, but decided not to do the second 3A because he was tired. That cost him. Despite the repeated replays of his flawed 3f by our media, that would not have cost him that much, had he landed the second 3A. Boitano did have a slight two-foot on one of his 3A's. IMO both were fantastic performances, and based on the rules those days, Boitano's win was fair.

I wasn't really into Pairs and Ice Dance at the time, although I could see that G/G were heads above everyone else.

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My memories of 1988 Olys are special because that's when I became a real fan of FS and started taking skating lessons.

What really stood out for me-

Midori Ito was sensational and made me an instant fan of her.

G&G were beautiful and a joy to watch. Katia was just 16, and adorable. They made me a fan of pairs skating, and it remained that way for a long long time (until COP ruined pairs skating).

Battle of the Brians actually lived up to the hype. I will always remember Boitano's triumphant reactiion at the end of his LP, and Orser's nod of disappointment, on the medal podium.

Battle of the Carmens turned out to be disappointing, even more so because I really wanted Debie to skate well and win the gold.

I disagree with you on the 4th & 5th placements. Debie actually deserved 4th place in the LP (I would have placed Midori 1st, then Kat, Liz). Jill Trenary had a poor LP skate. She did mostly doubles. No way she should have placed above Debie.

Unlike a lot of posters here, I liked B&B's FD. It was fast and furious. I liked Klimova-Ponomarenko's beauty in all phases of ice dance. I would have been OK if they had won the gold, but did not have a negative reaction to B&B's OGM.

In the summer of 1988, I was able to attend many live shows in Sun Valley (I lived in Idaho back then) and watch all these Olympic medallists (and some non-medallists) skate live. That was super special.